Now this is more like it. The first teaser we got for Season 2 of HBO’s Game of Thrones revealed absolutely nothing about the upcoming season, and though we’ve gotten some better looks since then — thanks to some behind-the-scenes production videos and a handful of set photos — it’s great to finally have a proper teaser with dramatic shots of the characters and landscapes to go with the requisite ominous voiceover.

Given that Season 2 will be based on A Clash of Kings, Book 2 of George R.R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series, it seems entirely appropriate that the narration in this teaser comes from one of the men determined to win the Iron Throne for himself: the brittle, humorless Stannis Baratheon, played by Stephen Dillane. Watch the trailer after the jump. (Warning: Major spoilers for Season 1/Book 1 ahead.)

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HBO’s epic fantasy series Game of Thrones was such a big hit when it premiered this past spring that the network renewed it for a second season just days after the first episode aired. But it’s been a long three months since the first season ended, and with the advent of the fall TV season, even the most diehard fans probably haven’t thought about the series in quite some time.

In an effort to remind you of just how much you’re looking forward to Season 2, HBO has released a very short new teaser. The video reveals pretty much nothing, aside from what seems to be the marketing slogan for the new season, but I welcome the reminder all the same. Watch it after the jump.

Band of Brothers writer Bruce McKenna and Nikita producer/director Danny Cannon are developing a new Western series for TNT titled Gateway. The 1880s-set action/adventure series will follow the three sons of a murdered sheriff in the titular town of Gateway, Colorado, who band together in order to save their town from a corrupt cattle baron. (Is there any other kind?) TNT’s currently given the show a “cast-contingent pilot order,” so we can probably expect casting rumors to start flying around soon.

Westerns are having something of a moment right now on the small screen. Also coming up is AMC’s post-Civil War series Hell on Wheels, as well as a possible remake of Wild Wild West from CBS; NBC was also working on a Western show, but scrapped the project after the pilot stage. The premise for Gateway sounds like classic Western, and with McKenna and Cannon behind it, I think there’s great potential here for a serious, well-done take on the genre. [Entertainment Weekly]

After the jump, Game of Thrones picks up yet another new cast member, and two Buffy alums dabble once more in the supernatural.

Briefly: Good news for George R.R. Martin fans: the ratings have just come in for the debut episode of Game of Thrones on HBO, and the network has already taken the expected step of renewing the show for a second season. The ratings for the first episode weren’t amazing — Boardwalk Empire out-did Thrones in premiere numbers — but they were good enough, at 2.2 million viewers in the initial airing, and 4.2 million across all three premiere showings. But we more or less knew that a second season would happen. The sets, costumes and so forth are so expensive for this debut season that HBO almost needs another season to make money, and is probably looking forward to the eventual DVD box sets that will continue to generate revenue.

The second season will be based upon A Clash of Kings, which is the second novel in the A Song of Ice and Fire series from author George R.R. Martin. [EW]